History Main / HonorableElephant

An anthropomorphized elephant or mammoth will typically be honorable and stoic. A young elephants may be more playful, but is unlikely to be a willful troublemaker. Ironically, while in RealLife female elephants tend to be the most involved in the complex social behaviors which make them so easily identified-with, fictitious elephantine heroes tend to be males -- perhaps because something so massive and thick-skinned as an elephant seems masculine even when the beast is female.

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An anthropomorphized elephant or mammoth will typically be honorable and stoic. A young elephants elephant may be more playful, but is unlikely to be a willful troublemaker. Ironically, while in RealLife female elephants tend to be the most involved in the complex social behaviors which make them so easily identified-with, fictitious elephantine heroes tend to be males -- perhaps because something so massive and thick-skinned as an elephant seems masculine even when the beast is female.

An anthropomorphized elephant or mammoth will typically be honorable and stoic. Young elephants may be more playful, but is unlikely to be a willful troublemaker. Ironically, while in RealLife female elephants tend to be the most involved in the complex social behaviors which make them so easily identified-with, fictitious elephantine heroes tend to be males -- perhaps because something so massive and thick-skinned as an elephant seems masculine even when the beast is female.

to:

An anthropomorphized elephant or mammoth will typically be honorable and stoic. Young A young elephants may be more playful, but is unlikely to be a willful troublemaker. Ironically, while in RealLife female elephants tend to be the most involved in the complex social behaviors which make them so easily identified-with, fictitious elephantine heroes tend to be males -- perhaps because something so massive and thick-skinned as an elephant seems masculine even when the beast is female.

Thanks to its size, the movements of an elephant tend to be slow and ponderous. While it's impossible to know whether an elephant's inner life is more somber and serious than, say, that of an [[PlayfulOtter otter]], it certainly ''looks'' that way. The somber image of elephants is compounded by the fact that elephants are observed engaging in what appears to be reverence for their dead. It seems likely that they are aware of their own mortality. The prodigious memory of elephants also makes it seem that their lives must be more burdened by history and the past than animals with less powerful memories, which exist more "in the moment".

to:

Thanks to its size, the movements of an elephant tend to be slow and ponderous. While it's impossible to know whether an elephant's inner life is more somber and serious dignified than, say, that of an [[PlayfulOtter otter]], it certainly ''looks'' that way. The somber image This impression of elephants is compounded by the fact that elephants are observed engaging in what appears to be reverence for their dead. It seems likely that they are aware of their own mortality. The prodigious memory of elephants also makes it seem that their lives must be more burdened by history and the past than animals with less powerful memories, which exist more "in the moment".

* In ''Literature/{{Bravelands}}'', elephants are the most spiritual animals in the Bravelands, telling the future by touching the bones of dead animals. The past is very important to them, and they love telling stories. Just like in real-life, a matriarch leads them and lets the herd make decisions together.

* The aforementioned Ganesha in Mythology section is featured in ''VideoGame/{{Smite}}'' and is a guardian that shares his kill benefits even better to his nearby teammates. He's also able to slow down while granting protections to his teammates.

** Actually this is an aversion. The elephant symbol comes from a political comic comparing Republicans to Elephants that had gotten fat and corrupt off of said corruption (back then, elephants were seen as taking too much resources and doing too little to justify such an expense). Democrats similarly were being ridiculed by the donkey for being stubborn and stupid, but since those animal traits are still associated with donkeys in modern times so it's easier to see the satire. Unusually, these days the [[InsultBackfire adopting of both animals positive traits]] are better seen with Republicans, through this trope than Democrats (at the time, Democrats countered that the Donkey was useful to farmers, which was once their base).

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